Games officials charged with desecretaing Mahatma's memorial

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee officials were today accused of desecrating Mahatma Gandhi's memorial in New Delhi after they allegedly entered its precincts with their shoes on.

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee officials were on Saturday accused of desecrating Mahatma Gandhi's memorial in New Delhi after they allegedly entered its precincts with their shoes on.

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Officials accompanying the Commonwealth Games' Queen's Baton to Rajghat "entered the samadhi precinct bearing the Baton wearing their shoes in gross violation of all standard rules, norms and protocol," the Gandhi Peace Foundation wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The concerned officials remained in the precinct for about 10 minutes in full public view and were "unmoved" even after people around raised an outcry, it alleged in the letter demanding an apology from the officials.

"We call upon the Government of India and the Rajghat Samadhi Committee, under whose care and supervision Rajghat is vested under an Act of Parliament, to hold an urgent enquiry into the incident, bring to book the officials responsible and put in place strict measures so that such incidents do not ever occur again," the letter said.

It said that even the caretaker of the Rajghat Samadhi and other staff were present at the monument at the time, called for an apology from the violators.

"The Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games owes an apology to the Nation for this desecration," it said.